The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) has asked for a written guarantee that the software which will aggregate the results of next weekend’s election is safe from any outside tampering. According to HVG, party MP Ferenc Baja put forward the request on Wednesday, when the National Elections Office (NVI) gave a closed-door briefing on the functioning of the software. NVI director Ilona Pálffy promised to present the results of an audited test of the system on Tuesday. The portal also noted that the NVI had planned to hold a public demonstration of the software the previous Friday, which apparently failed to take place. Members of the opposition have repeatedly voiced concerns in recent weeks about the software, pointing out that under previous Socialist-Liberal (MSZP-SZDSZ) governments the was in place and subject to public demonstrations 90 days before elections.
Baja said he believes that “these problems are not occurring only by chance, rather because of the decision the by the current governing parties to obstruct the free participation of the citizens in the elections by running it in an inefficient and disorganized way.”
An anonymous source speaking on behalf of the government emphasized that the National Elections Office is independent from the government, and is running the elections on its own.
Source: Socialists request written guarantee on election-tabulating software | Politics.hu.
